His only friends
by awesometealover
Summary: Arthur had always known he was different from the other kids at school, they made that perfectly clear. His only friends being ones only he could see.


**Authors Notes:**** I don't own Hetalia or any of the characters in here, merely the story. Okay, so I changed the prologue a bit, making it a lot longer and have decided this is going to be multichapter. **

**Warnings: **** sexual references and acts, violence, under-age drinking and smoking, a future age-gap relationship, male/male relationship and sex. None of these are included in the prologue, but will be in later chapters, any and all warnings for that chapter will be in these Authors notes at the beginning of that chapter.**

* * *

Arthur had always known he was different from the other kids at school, they made that perfectly clear. He never understood why. His friends were all very kind to him, he didn't understand why the other children weren't, calling him names like 'black sheep' and 'big-brow'. So, he ignored them as best he could, trying not to show how much their words hurt him. In between classes he snuck to the far corner of the playground, behind the hedges. Here was his sanctuary, here he could escape the bullying and harassment, here he felt safe. This safety was not only due to the bushes that hid him from the other childrens cruelty and intimidation, but it also gave him the freedom to talk to his friends.

He loved all his friends, but Flying Mint Bunny was his best friend. Flying Mint Bunny was always by his side when he felt sad, or angry, or confused. Though he couldn't talk to her in front of others, especially not his mother. His mother had explained that having 'imaginary' friends wasn't normal, that it was strange that he only spoke to 'things that weren't there'. She told him to try and make 'real' friends at school. He was in Year 2, and he was a big boy now. He was very confused, why should he be friends with all the mean kids at school who call him names and not with his other friends, the ones who were always nice to him and always there for him? He wanted to make his mother happy, so he agreed to what she wanted. She was very happy, his mother hugged him tight and shouted praises of joy, things like "You're really growing up now Arthur", and "I'm so proud Arthur". One of these praises really hit him hard "You're going to be just like everyone else Arthur" he smiled and agreed with his mother, though deep down, he knew that would never be true.

He tried, he tried so hard to please his mother, to make friends, but the torment he received from the other children never stopped. Over the years, it got worse and worse, his only refuge being behind hedges and gates, in corners and empty bathrooms, anywhere he could find privacy, to be with his friends. "It's okay Arthur" whispered flying mint bunny, while Tinkerbelle wiped the tears from his cheeks "They don't matter, they don't matter". Those words became a kind of mantra, Arthur would repeat them over and over in his head. 'They don't matter, they don't matter' as his bag was stolen and thrown in the dirt. 'They don't matter' as he was kicked and hit into a wall. 'They don't matter' as groups of other children surrounded him, while he was crying on the ground "Freak!" "Cry-baby!" "Caterpillar eyebrows!"

He learnt to hide this from his mother, wanting her to be proud, wanting her to think he had what she called 'real friends'. Bruises he would pass of as sports, scratches as playground games and ruined belongings as harmless accidents. This was Arthur's life, full of bullying from his peers, lying to his own mother and trusting no one but the friends only he could see. Arthur told himself he liked it that way, he preferred his friends over the other children at school, but he this strange pull in his chest every time he saw Eli and Gilbert racing and play fighting each other. Every time he watched Lili and Natalia playing dress up. Every time he saw Feli, Lovino and Antonio draw tomatoes. Sometimes it became so overwhelming, he couldn't help his eyes get watery, but he soon dried them, stating in his head 'they don't matter'.

* * *

There was an event he remembered from grade 4, when yet again forced into a corner crying "Arthur, it will be okay, you've always got us" encouraged Flying Mint Bunny, floating next to a crying. "I-I know, but I kind of want human friends, I just feel… weird watching everyone else play together and me just… being here." Sobbed Arthur "Poor Arthur, why would you want human friends? Look what humans do to you, aren't we so much better?"

"I do think you're on to something Flying Mint Bunny, I agree!" said Arthur, hugging her tight against her chest, when he hears an obnoxious chuckle behind him, turning to see Gilbert and Eli laughing and making kissing-impressions. "Oh, Flying Milk Bunny, I wuv you!" Impersonated Gilbert

"You're my only friend, smooch, smooch, smooch!" continued Eli, as they both broke into laughter. Arthur stood horrified, not knowing what to do as Flying Mint Bunny disappeared from sight.

"What a loser, hey caterpillar?" teased Gilbert as he pushed Arthur into the wall and continued laughing with Eli

"C'mon Gilbert, let's go tell Toni about this!" said Eli "You don't want to be around caterpillar too long, you might catch his eyebrows!"

"True, I'm way too awesome for such loser eyebrows, plus I don't want to kiss a milk bunny!" announced Gilbert as he and Eli ran off, seeing who could get to Toni the fastest.

Arthur was lucky in some ways on that day, it was only a little shove from Gilbert, far less than usual, however, in another way he was very unlucky. He'd been caught talking to his friends, the friends he'd known for a long time could only be seen by him, which just started another way he could be teased. He was not just the boy with the freakishly large eyebrows, but also the boy who talked to himself and wanted to kiss a 'milk bunny'.

From that moment on wards, he was more of an outcast than ever before "It's a good thing they don't matter" muttered Arthur as he picked himself up and rubbed the soon-to-be bruise on his arm.

* * *

Through all this, there was something besides Flying Mint Bunny and all his other magical friends, the school library. Hundreds of beautiful books that gave him an escape, a way to plunge himself into the life of another. He could fight off dragons and giant evil serpents, go on quests across mystical lands, learn to preform witchcraft, outwit tyrants in a dystopia, fall in love with someone he truly shouldn't or become a notorious pirate scourging the seven seas… the possibilities endless! He imagined hundreds of things such as these and eventually began writing them down. He soon discovered not only is being thrust into a world of imagination amazing, so is creating your own. Writing soon became one of his favourite hobbies, jotting down anything that he could use as part of a story later on, no matter where he was, the ideas simply kept flowing.

He mainly wrote fantasy, he loved fantasy. Fantasy was by far his favourite genre and many of his works were inspired by Fairy Tales and folklore, which was another interest of his. Fantasy stories from other time periods were especially interesting to Arthur, particularly ones involving unicorns and fairies. He loved the magic and colourfulness of them, they were magnificent and gentle creatures, he should know, several of his friends are fairies and one is a unicorn. His friends often inspired him to write, especially after a particularly painful day, where he hid under his blankets and wept. They encouraged him to write and afterwards… he felt better. Not a lot better, he never felt a lot better, but it truly took the edge off, like soaking a band aid in water before ripping it off.

As the years went by, this behaviour never changed. The same old slurs, the same old harassment, the same old bullying, all throughout his Primary school. Arthur greatly looked forward to High School, he saw it as a light at the end of the tunnel. He was sure that in High School, everything would change; school work would be more difficult, more subjects to meet his interests, a larger library to satisfy his ever growing hunger for more stories but above all, what he looked forward to High school the most about was the people. He was so sure when he finally got to High School, the students would be more mature, less prone to picking on him for being a little different. If only he had known how wrong he was…


End file.
